Athens Hocking Recycling Center

The Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District joined with Rural Action to co-present the Youth Leadership Award. Christine Tate’s fourth grade Compost Crew began as a small effort to reduce waste and has transformed into a student-led movement focused on sustainability, environmental responsibility, and community awareness. With support from local partners and the Ohio EPA, the Compost Crew has been a champion to support food waste collection in Chieftain Elementary School’s cafeteria paving the way for 19,300 lbs of compost to be collected throughout the school year. We were a proud funded of the project.

In other news, we also received Rural Action's Sustainable Partnership Award. AHSWD and Jane Forrest-Redfern work tirelessly to help Athens and Hocking Counties keep our recycling and compost assets local. AHSWD took the region from 26.88% recycling rate in 2020 to 37.48% in 2023. Earlier this year, the Southeast Ohio Recycling Terminal officially consolidated with AHSWD to improve area waste management programs, finances, public access and community partnerships.